I made my first t-shirt before I'd ever heard of CafePress or print-on-demand. My shirt said this: "I am embracing my inner misanthrope." I still think it's a great slogan.

Turns out I was full of great slogans. I found out about CafePress.com and opened up a shop: k8company! This was in 2004, after we were crushed yet outraged that George W. Bush had finagled his way into the White House. There was plenty of political fodder for t-shirts. The one that began to sell in my shop said this: "Iraq had nothing to do with 9/11." It is still one of my best sellers.

Then, as I realized what a great medium for expression this CafePress thing was, I branched out and added k8company!Two (non-political stuff, "comfort food for your head"), which later spawned Cubicle Farm (an emotional outlet and humor vehicle inspired by my life at the office). And then, some time later, my husband (Larry), out of the blue, took some photographs of flowers in our backyard garden. They were fantastic! So of course I had to open a fourth shop: Lawrence Hayes Photography.

And there you have it. I'm hooked and having the time of my life (although to some friends and family my dedication may look like obsession). I'm even making enough money from the shops to repay myself for the many hours of "work" I put into them. I'd do it for nothing though.

On second thought, maybe I wouldn't do it for nothing. Because a vital part of the experience is the thrill of having someone out in the world look at my stuff and like it enough to buy it. Whenever I make a sale I get an email notification (CPers call them "donots" because they're from "donotreply") and to see where in the world these kindred spirits are. All over the US, Canada, New Zealand, Denmark... You may not believe it, but that's so much better than the money.

I have a cozy little family, and we're living in our dream house in the Bay Area of California, Best Place on Earth. I'm very happily married and have two children: Scout, 9, and Buster, 4. Well, they're cats actually.

Life is good.